The Deal
by Green1
Summary: A bit of AU. Akira reflects upon the time when he first started to learn Go.


Title: The Deal  
Rating: G  
Notes: My first Hikaru no Go fic. And I know everyone is extremely OOC in this. Esp. Akira. I know and I'm sorry. And this is probably a great bit AU too. I just wanted to write a Hikago fic. ;_;  
Disclaimer: I don't know Hikaru no Go. I'm just a poor college student...  
  
I don't really remember much when I was little. Just pieces, here and there. I remember my Mom the most. Her way of smiling when she looked at me, the sweet smell of the lavender perfume that clung to her cloths, how she loved me. Basically.  
  
It was me and her, for those first few years -- or at least, of what I could remember. We lived in a huge house, two storied. I slept on the second, my bedroom a room down from my parents. I didn't even need a night light.  
  
I'm sure you know already, but I did have a father. A very famous, very busy father. I didn't see him much, and when I did, he was always taking *her* away from me. I didn't really like him, but it was enough just to put with him -- he'd be gone the next morning, with a little kiss on the check and "be a good boy to your mother, Akira-chan."  
  
I'd always smile when the car raced out of view. Sometimes, I had to stand out there, for a few extra minutes, just to make sure he wasn't going to come back. I think this worried my Mom, but... I had to do what I had to do.   
  
Besides, it was just plain better for the both of us. It was easier on my Mom, for one thing. She'd make a simple meal and been done with all that -- and I'd get to help her too. We'd talk about the day, how well I had done this or that and after dinner, she's read me a story. I loved the stories.  
  
It seemed to me pointless that he even came back home. He was gone so much, why even bother? Why not just leave all-the-way, instead of this... fencing? Here one day and gone the next?  
  
"Mama?" I looked up at her, as I handed her the soapy plate.  
  
She took the plate away from me with a towel, wiping it in circular motions. "Mm-hm?" She set the plate in the drying area.  
  
I stared at the sink full of dirty dishes. Somehow, I had a hard time formulating my thoughts. "Mama... why does Father come back home?" I held out a wet cup.  
  
She gave me a puzzled looked. "Because he loves us, Akira-chan." She shook her head and took the wet cup from my hands. "Why would you ask something like that?"  
  
I didn't answer. There was something about her tone that made me even more angry then before. It was as if she was okay with him coming back. I shook my head. She was so sad when he left, always cried when she thought I wasn't around. If he didn't come back, then he wouldn't go again... and my Mom wouldn't cry.   
  
Of course, I had no idea how to make him leave. I certainly couldn't talk to him about it. I dreaded the "father and son" time we had, even if it was a mere hug and a smile.  
  
I don't know what made me think of it, but I decided that I just didn't want to see him. Okay, I couldn't make him leave, but I could make it so that I didn't have to see him. I didn't have to see my Mom completely engrossed in him.  
  
I'm not sure how, because I am completely sure that I had the best hiding places in the huge house, but my father always found me. Behind the chair, under the guest bed in the spare room, even in the ultra secret space under the bathroom cabinets -- a place one I knew about (or so I had thought.) And he had the most perfect timing too. He'd "find" me when my legs would go numb or my back had a creak that would stay in it for days, but never before. I'm not sure if I was more insulted just for that fact.  
  
He'd always pick me up and hold me out. A wrinkle would crease his brow, and that trace of a frown on his lips. "Akira-chan," he'd say in that low, rumbly way, "what am I going to do  
with you?"  
  
My mouth would clamp shut and I wouldn't even look at him for the remainder of the meal. I'd help clean the dishes as excepted, and then I'd climb the stairs to my bedroom alone. Not even would my Mom wish me a good night.  
  
After the first initial "hide and seek" episode, I figured it probably wouldn't do any good to try again (at least, not until he was gone again.) I slinked around and kept mainly out of sight of my father.   
  
I'd hear my parents talking about me, usually after dinner when they had thought I'd gone to bed (I guess.)  
  
"Kouyo, you've just got to talk to him. Maybe... if you take him with you?" A pause. "Then why don't you teach him Go?"  
  
"How, Akiko? He *hides* from me. I won't talk to me. And when I'm here, I'm lucky to see him twice in one day. What am I supposed to do?"  
  
At that, I'd take off. I didn't want to imagine what the scene would be if they found me spying on them.  
  
One day my Mom came to me as I played in my room. I was making a castle, to be more precise. The armies from the east where going to invade the west and I was busy making sure they wouldn't get through.  
  
"Akira-chan?" She knelt beside me and ran a hand through my hair. I grinned at her, ready to tell her the whole story (the east has always tried to delve into the west, and I had my hands full trying to protect it (though, guiltily, I'll admit to playing on the east's side once or twice) but she broke in first with, "Akira-chan, do you know how to play Go?"  
  
I blinked. That was the game my father plays, the one that keeps him away and the one I was dead set against ever playing it. Stupid Go. I already that I'd hate it forever, so why even try it.  
  
She stood and picked me up with her (I was that little then.) "Let's go play, ne?"  
  
I didn't say anything. This was my Mom, after all. And she wanted to spend time with me. I'd never seen her ask my father for a game, so it sorta became bit of pride that she's ask for me to play with her. Of course I'd play Go with her, mo matter if I hated the game with every fiber of my person.  
  
She carried me into my father's gaming room (the one room in our house which (well, besides my parents room but that went basically unsaid). She set me down at one side of the board and sat down on the other side.  
  
"I'm not nearly as good as your father, but I know something about this game," she said with a slight smile.  
  
Okay, I thought (though I didn't believe her. My mom can do anything, let me tell you). I smiled back at her.   
  
She took the two bowls off the table and put one near me and kept one for herself. She motioned for me to open the lid and showed me where to put the dish. She grabbed a few stones and I copied her, setting them on the weird table-board-thingy.  
  
I was black and she was white. One closer inspection, I found the stones were small and smooth and kind-of cool in a weird way. They felt good in my hands. She explained the general rules in a soft voice, placing them on the board in different ways. Something about eyes, and gaining territory, and other weird things.  
  
I can't tell you if I really understood the rules as I did then. No, I'm pretty sure that it did go over my head. There was so much but...  
  
... It seemed like fun. Kinda. Almost. Sorta. It was like the army of the east was attacking my west army, only I had a grid and I could strike back and stuff. That much of it made sense to my young mind then.  
  
And playing my mom made the game even better.  
  
"Okay, Akira-chan," said my Mom, as she picked up the stones and set them back in their containers, "Let's play a game."  
  
"'Kay," I giggled. "I'll... grab?"  
  
"Crunch," she corrected.  
  
"Yeah!" I grabbed the black stones with both hands and sent them tumbling on the board. A couple skittered off the board and I scrambled to get them. In the end, I had "guessed" even and my mom, odd. I won, she told me.  
  
We played my very first game and she won. Again, she won. Again, again, and again; she won all my attempts.  
  
"Your father is going to be coming home soon, Akira-chan." It was the signal that we weren't going to be playing any more games today, and probably not for the next few days.  
  
Father, the mere word made me growl. Of course it would be him to ruin this fun. He always seemed to have that knack, even when he was no where near home.  
  
"Did you like Go?"  
  
Eh? Her question brought me out of my anger-filled thoughts. I nodded after pondering it for a moment. "Can we play again, Mama? Soon?"  
  
She smiled and ushered me out of the room. "When your father comes home, why don't you play him?  
  
I stopped. "I don't wanna."  
  
"Akira-chan," she admonished, "he's one of the best players in Japan. You should feel honored to play him."  
  
I pouted and crossed my arms. "No. He's too busy anyway."  
  
"He'd love to play with you. He'd be so happy to teach his favorite son to play his favorite game." She knelt down to run a hand through my hair and smile. "He isn't so bad... Maybe you should give him a change?"  
  
I pulled out of her grasp and ran. "I'll be down for dinner," I yelled to her as I bounded up the stairs.  
  
"Akira!" I heard, but it didn't faze me. I was getting used to it.  
  
I hated him. He always ruined my fun! I couldn't do anything without being forced to stop because I should "wait for my father". Bleh! I kicked my block fortress down and sighed. I could hear the car pull up and walked to the window. My Mom was down there, to great him as he came home.  
  
Stupid father.  
  
My father came up later to tell me dinner was ready. That was a new one. He'd come off his exalted cloud to see me to dinner. I hopped off my bed, but he stopped me.  
  
"Akira," he said, releasing my arm. "We have to talk."  
  
I ignored him and headed for the door again.   
  
"Akira." He moved to stand in front of the door.  
  
"Dinner's ready, Sir," were the first things I had said to my father in days. "Mama is waiting for us." I didn't look up at him.  
  
My father wouldn't budge.  
  
"I want to teach you Go. Every morning, I'll be here and we'll play," he said after a minute. My head shot up but his face betrayed no more emotion then it ever did -- just a very slight frown -- though his voice was stern.  
  
"No," I said. "I don't like Go. It's a stupid game." I turned away from him. Silently, I vowed never to touch a Go board again.  
  
"You will." He studied me. "But... if you can beat me, I promise never to ask for another game again."  
  
I whirled around on the balls of my feet. "And will you leave too? Promise that?"  
  
The intensity of the glare sent a shiver down me. It seemed like an eternity had gone by but he nodded. "If you can win me in an even game of Go by the time you're ten years old, then I will leave and never come back."  
  
Ten? That was a good seven or eight years away. Plenty of time to practice and win and get him out of here. Go isn't that complicated of a game. Mama would be so happy and it would be just the two of us.  
  
I clenched my fists and nodded. "Okay," I said and added silently, for you Mama.  
  
My father moved away from the door. "If you tell your mother of this, our deal is off. And you have to stop these acting-ups of yours. No more hiding, no more silent treatment. I want a full report of the days events when I come home too."  
  
I nodded again. It wouldn't be too long before I could get him out of our life.  
  
"Ready?" my father asked and ruffled my hair. "Be nice. For your mother. She worries too much about things she shouldn't have too."   
  
"For Mama." I nodded.  
  
We walked down to the kitchen together, my father slightly behind me. I couldn't tell you the amount of joy I felt. I was on cloud nine.  
  
"Hi Mama," I said, a grin on my face, as I climbed up to my seat.  
  
My father paused to plant a kiss on her cheek. Yuck. I resisted the urge to rub my own cheek. I don't see how she could stand him.  
  
"So..." my Mom started hesitantly, "you two resolved your issues?"  
  
I nodded widely. "Uh huh. It's going to be just fine, Mama."  
  
I cast a look at my father. He smiled at me. The bastard. I'll teach him a lesson.  
  
She broke into a deep smile and sighed heavily. "That's wonderful. I'm so glad you two are getting along now. I can't begin to tell you how worried I was..."  
  
My father smiled at her and patted her arm. "It'll be fine, Akiko. I'm sure we will get alone a lot better now."  
  
And the rest, to end this as cliché as possible, is history.  
  
...THE END...  
  
Oh! That was horrid. But... it was my first Hikaru no Go fic. ;_; I'm allowed to write a bad fic, here and there. Right? Right? *sniff* 


End file.
